— Photo: S. Mahinsha

AERIAL BATTLE: Bihar's Mohammed Salam and Delhi's Palmei Prupangai fight for possession.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Delhi became the first team to qualify for the quarterfinal league from the Thiruvananthapuram leg after defeating Bihar 2-0 in a rain-marred encounter at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium on Tuesday.

Sumit Thapa struck a brace (32nd and 52nd) before the downpour. The rain and Delhi's put paid to Bihar's hopes. Heavy rain midway into the second half killed the contest especially after Bihar had woken up from its slumber.

The conditions were so bad that referee P.K. Bose of Madhya Pradesh had to suspend play when seven minutes remained for the match to end. The match resumed after a break of 35 minutes when the heavy downpour turned to a slight drizzle. The teams came out and completed the formalities. The organisers wisely postponed the second match of the evening, the Orissa-Maharashtra tie in Cluster III, to Wednesday morning.

Win imperative

After both teams mauled Himachal Pradesh by the same margin (3-0) a win was imperative for both Delhi and Bihar to qualify. But it was Delhi which played earnestly for that and it settled into a fine rhythm from the start. With wingers moving up to support the Delhi frontline, the Bihar defence had a harrowing time.

Striker Sumit Thapa threatened to score whenever he got the ball. And in the 31st minute, Sumit Thapa was on the verge of scoring Delhi's opening goal when he was brought down by Ashgar Ali. Thapa himself converted the penalty to put Delhi ahead.

Delhi continued in the same vein in the second half and increased the lead quite early. Defender Praveen Rawat found enough space on the right flank to move up and his fine centre was volleyed home by Sumit Thapa from top of the box in the 52nd minute.

Bihar raised visions of a fightback and substitute Babloo Kumar Yadav nearly reduced the margin in the 60th minute. However, Babloo's shot, which had eluded goalkeeper Anup Kumar's desperate dive, was cleared out for a corner on the goalline by Delhi defender Bijender Kumar. Then came the rain to spoil the contest.

A draw

Meghalaya held Jammu and Kashmir to 2-2 draw. The result had little bearing on the fortunes of the teams which had already bowed out of contention for a quarterfinal berth. However, the result was creditable one for Meghalaya which led 2-1 till the last minute.

The expulsion of defender Polin Lyngdoh in the 84th minute upset the rhythm of Meghalaya as Jammu and Kashmir found the last minute equaliser through Mehraj-u-din.

Earlier Bilal Ahmed Nani put J&K ahead in the 65th minute. But Rogester Basinwmdit and Freddy Kharpran struck twice in space of 10 minutes as Meghalaya nurtured hopes of an unlikely win.

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